1. Technology Field
The present invention relates to a memory controlling method for a rewritable non-volatile memory module, and a memory controller and a memory storage apparatus using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Digital cameras, cell phones, and MP3 players have undergone rapid growth in recent years, so that consumer demands for storage media have also rapidly increased. A rewritable non-volatile memory is suitable for portable applications and most suitable for portable products powered by battery due to its characteristics such as data non-volatility, low power consumption, small volume, non-mechanical structure, and high read-and-write speed. A pen driver is a storage apparatus which uses a rewritable non-volatile memory as its storage medium. Since the rewritable non-volatile memory has a small size and large capacity, it is widely used for storing personal important data. Thus, in recent years, the rewritable non-volatile memory industry has become a major part of the electronic industry.
A memory die in a memory storage apparatus has a plurality of physical blocks, and each physical block has a plurality of physical pages. When data is written into the physical block, it is sequentially written according to a sequence of the physical pages. Generally, a procedure of writing data to the physical pages includes a command and data transferring stage and a data programming stage. To be specific, when data is to be stored in the physical pages of the memory die, a control circuit of the memory storage apparatus first transmits the command and the data to a buffer of the memory die. Then, the memory die programs (i.e. writes) the data to the physical pages from the buffer. During the process that the control circuit of the memory storage apparatus transmits the data to the memory die, the memory die is in a transmission state. Moreover, during a process that the data is programmed to the physical pages, the memory die is in a busy state.
In order to increase a data writing speed of the memory storage apparatus, the memory storage apparatus is configured with a plurality of memory dies and data is written therein in an interleave manner or a parallel manner. For example, a memory storage apparatus configured with a first and a second memory dies which are coupled to a control circuit through a data input/output bus is taken as an example, when a host system is about to store a plurality of batches of page data (i.e. data having the size which is equal to the capacity of one page) into the memory storage apparatus, the control circuit may transmit one batch of page data to the first memory die. Then, when the first memory die is in the busy state, the control circuit may transmit another batch of page data to the second memory die. Then, when the second memory die is in the busy state, the control circuit may transmit another batch of page data to the first memory die, in this way, by interleavingly transmitting the page data to the first memory die and the second memory die, a data writing time is shortened.
Particularly, when the memory die is in the transmission state or the busy state, the memory die requires power to execute transmission or programming operations. However, regarding a memory card or a pen driver using a power provided by a data transmission interface as a main power, when the memory dies are enabled (i.e. in the busy state or the transmission state) simultaneously, the power provided by the data transmission interface is probably inadequate, which may cause write failure.
Similarly, a procedure of erasing data of a physical block may also include a command transmission stage and a data erasing stage. However, the power required for the memory die to execute a data erasing operation is far eater than the power required for executing a data writing operation. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a memory controlling method to avoid unstableness caused by inadequate power when the erase command is executed in case that the interleave manner or the parallel manner is used to write data.
Nothing herein should be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art of any portion of the present invention. Furthermore, citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention, or that any reference forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art.